Joss Whedon signed on to both write and direct the sequel to Avengers. He's also been tasked to consult on the rest of the Phase Two films. While the plot of the film is currently unknown Whedon has quietly handed in a draft to Marvel. A few things taken from previous films such as rumors, Easter Eggs, hints and assumptions have fuelled this gathering of possibilities for Avengers 2. Not to mention Joss stating the film would be on smaller more personal scale than the last installment. A lot of this write-up is speculation but could turn out to be true, so be warned these might be spoilers.
AVENGERS TOWER: There were a couple of hints in Avengers that Tony was looking to turn Star Tower into the new headquarters for The Avengers. It would somewhat confirm that the main characters would be returning for the sequel. S.H.I.E.L.D. at odds with the World Counsel have likely been given the go-ahead by Nick Fury for the Avengers to be on their own. This image confirming that Tony plans on housing the rest of the team and that they will be returning for the sequel.
S.W.O.R.D.: An off-shoot of S.H.I.E.L.D. and created for the comics by Joss Whedon, it's only a matter of time before he uses them. Erik Selvig names the organization in a deleted scene from Thor which means they exist in the MCU. The group handles alien matters and is headed up by Abigail Brand. Jessica Drew better known as the original Spider-Woman is also an agent of S.W.O.R.D. I could see them involved if either aliens or Atlantians are the villains.
ALIEN TECH: The aftermath of New York saw S.H.I.E.L.D. end up with a massive cache of Chitauri weapons and technology. Rogers revealed S.H.I.E.L.D.'s plans to resurrect Hydra's weapons program given the name "Phase Two". Likely, the weapons will be involved/evolve throughout the next group of Marvel films. Could these weapons have been put together to fight against Asgard, meta-humans and aliens? Nick Fury gives the impression that's the case. If they're able to reverse engineer the Chitauri technology they could make some powerful weapons to arm with their agents/soldiers. It was shown in Item 47 that the weapons don't need the cosmic cube to be powered, unlike the Hydra guns.
The Chitauri gliders will likely make their way into the S.H.I.E.L.D. vehicle lineup as multiple heroes have used similar machines. At least they would be able to explain that it's alien technology that ables them to fly. My assumption is that they could first show up in Winter Soldier.
CIVIL WAR: Marvel's Kevin Feige has touched upon the use of the Civil War storyline. Saying that they'd try to save it for at least the third film. However, they've been hinting to it throughout the first installment. Starting with the tension scene in the forest where Thor battles Iron Man and Captain America. Later, we'll see the Avengers at each other's throat eventually coming together and becoming friends. This will be tested in their second outing as these massive characters will assuming have more conflict with each other. Not to mention S.H.I.E.L.D. loosing it's luster as a squeaky-clean organization turning themselves into bullies forcing the heroes to join them or be arrested. Seeing them as more of threat on their own rather than in the control of S.H.I.E.L.D.
We saw what happens when alien technology is left in the hands of S.H.I.E.L.D. as Coulson showed off the awesome power of the Destroyer gun. The weapon adapted from Asgardian material was able to give Loki a bit of punch. Which means it could do some damage to Thor as well. Not to mention Hulk's cage which is used on Loki, giving early hints to Civil War.
Another hint to Civil War is a little more covert with a reference to Project 42. As one of the files Coulson gives Stark has "42" on it. Project 42 is an extra-dimensional prison (developed by Stark) for captured bad guys (and rebellious heroes) made necessary because the old housing facility, Project Pegasus, had been destroyed. Project Pegasus was the name given to the facility in the opening scenes which was destroyed.
The World Council was able to go over Fury's head and greenlight a nuclear missile strike on Manhattan. In a deleted scene for the introduction which has Maria Hill talking to the Council after the events of New York seemingly throws Nick under the bus. A key moment that will likely be shown in Captain America: The Winter Soldier. However, this aspect could leak into Avengers 2 with S.H.I.E.L.D. and Hill looking to force the Avengers to become official members/agents. Hill and Stark being the main antagonists of the Civil War storyline.
H.A.M.M.E.R.: Led by the villainous Norman Osborn and puts together the Dark Avengers. We've seen Marvel use Norman's Iron Patriot suit for War Machine in Iron Man 3. So would it be possible to see H.A.M.M.E.R. as well? Well there has been talk of The Masters of Evil being the villains. However, the name of the group is a bit sketchy and cliche. It seems plausible that the group could end up being used just given a different title like H.A.M.M.E.R. This doesn't seem out of the ordinary considered we've seen Kevin Feige and Joss Whedon play around with origins and continuity before. I could see H.A.M.M.E.R. either shown as a rival of S.H.I.E.L.D. or it's polar oppisite. Baron Zemo has been rumored for Winter Soldier and is the founder of the Masters of Evil it wouldn't be a leap to see him headed up H.A.M.M.E.R. instead of HYDRA or even A.I.M. Another angle is since Masters of Evil will include former villains from previous films they could use Justin Hammer as the corperate face of the group. Having them a sort of privatized version of S.H.I.E.L.D.
If Sony does end up allowing Spider-Man to appear in an Avengers sequel. A Norman Osborn led H.A.M.M.E.R. taking over S.H.I.E.L.D. linked to a bigger Civil War plot could give a reason for Spidey to get himself involved with The Avengers. Instead of a cameo or a poorly shoehorned plot device to bring him into the fold. The Spider-Man saga was going to represented in The Avengers originally with the Oscorp building among the New York City skyline. That didn't happen but has proven bigger things could be possible. Even more so when Peter's parents had been portrayed as S.H.I.E.L.D. agents in a What-If? comic book. Perhaps, if Sony shared Spidey and Osborn they could be allowed to share S.H.I.E.L.D. which could end up bridging him into the MCU.
VILLAINS
NAMOR: There was a brief easter egg in Avengers during the opening scene. It could point to Namor's company Oracle which among other things tries to reduce the amount of pollution in the ocean. We've previously seen a Namor hint in Iron Man 2 when Fury's meta-human map showed Atlantis. Namor is Marvel's first mutant but exempted from Fox's X-Men deal. He had been rumored to be included for Captain America: The First Avenger and Iron Man 3. The former we know to be untrue but it remains to be unseen if he'll show up in Iron Man 3.
The Sub-Mariner has taken the role of hero and villain which could be an interesting take on a villain that we haven't seen in other films. While Loki was the first villain the Avengers went up against in both the film and comic book. Namor was a villain in issue three which could mean he's a very strong candidate. If this happens Namor could either help the Avengers or declare war with the army of Atlantis behind him. Having the enemy come from within the planet could be something considered "smaller scale" than having a fleet of aliens headed by Thanos invading Earth (again). Giving the team a bit of a break from a cosmic threat.
MASTERS OF EVIL: Joss Whedon has mentioned a more personal threat and a group of supervillains hitting the heroes were they live sounds about right. The Avengers being known on a worldwide scale could give them a rather large target on their backs. Even more so if it's known that Tony Stark is behind them. A rumor has pointed to the Masters of Evil possibly becoming the baddies of the sequel. While there has been talk of Thanos the smaller scale has been talked-up by Whedon a few times. The group included Baron Zemo (rumored for Cap 2), Radioactive Man (confirmed for Iron Man 3), Crossbones (confirmed for Cap 2), Amora The Enchantress/Skurge The Executioner (rumored for Thor 2) and former Avenger Wonder Man. Having the Avengers go up against a collection of former villains and friends could be something fresh instead of just one villain to worry about.
WONDER MAN: Simon Williams' company Williams Innovations is put under because of it's competitor Stark Industries. Simon tries to embezzle money from the failing company but ultimately is sent to prison for his crime. He blames Stark for his misfortune and is given a chance for revenge by Baron Zermo and the Masters of Evil. Transformed into the superhuman Wonder Man by Zemo is sent to infiltrate the Avengers. While posing as an Avenger Simon will eventually betray his companions so that the Masters of Evil can destroy the Avengers. If Whedon wants a personal Avengers story there's nothing better than Wonder Man's betrayal, redemption, subsequent death and then resurrection.
Eric Williams, the brother of Simon blames the death of his brother Wonder Man on The Avengers and plans to take revenge on the heroes. With the help of Ultron, another member of the Masters of Evil and creation of Hank Pym (Ant-Man) gives The Grim Reaper more powers. Ultron uses Simon's brain patterns for Vision who becomes another villainous pawn against The Avengers. Eventually, Vision and a resurrected Wonder Man become members of The West Coast Avengers. There is also a bit of a love triangle between himself, Scarlet Witch and Vision.
THANOS: When Thanos finally showed up at the end of Avengers revealing himself as Loki's puppet master. It gave a lot of fans the impression he was going to be the big baddie of the sequel. However, Marvel hasn't really made button scenes for sequels before only for upcoming films. The newest film in Phase Two being The Guardians of The Galaxy. We do know that Odin's vault in Thor held the infinity gauntlet and it's rumored that something involved with the gauntlet could be the item of interest (infinity gems or the gauntlet itself) in Guardians. Thanos will likely be showing up in Guardians possibly as the main antagonist of the movie. How that translates into Avengers 2 remains to be seen since his presence could have some massively grim consequences.
The infinity gauntlet saga has it's own issues considering how powerful Thanos becomes and the death-toll that comes with it. Marvel wouldn't in likely-hood want to kill off major characters in that fashion and this early. Perhaps, if Thanos does become a villain in the Avengers films it will be further in the future giving enough time for characters to finish their trilogies and solo films.
Another possibility is that Thanos could be pulling the strings of Masters of Evil providing them with technology and weapons to go up against the Avengers. Maybe even the machine that turns Simon Williams into Wonder Man since it sounds like cosmic-technology would be involved there.
NEW AVENGERS
ComingSoon was able to get a quote from Whedon about a favorite aspect of the Avengers comics. That being the way the comics shook-up the Avengers lineup with new heroes joining the team in every issue. Hawkeye and Black Widow weren't original Avengers members but ultimately joined the team in the first installment. Hawkeye being the leader of the West Coast Avengers it's possible that other members of the team could end up showing up in sequels. Characters that haven't been mentioned or rumored such as Mockingbird, Wonder Man and Spider-Woman could be interesting additions to the MCU.
"I used to read 'The Avengers' and part of the ethos of the team was that it changed their lineup every month," says Whedon. "Their 150th issue was just a bunch of faces. 'Who will be in the team now?!' We had the first issue as a poster in the offices. Now that I'm working on the sequel I said, 'Let's put the second issue up there! Let's change it up a little bit!' The second issue is 'Introducing… Giant-Man! And this character! They were already changing it up after one issue. That's what they always do."
SCARLET WITCH AND VISION: Classic supporting Avengers like Scarlet Witch (Iron Man 2 supporting character) and Vision (life-decoy of Agent Coulson) have been mentioned previously and have been championed by fans. Witch had been confirmed by Favreau as an original supporting character in Iron Man 2 but was ultimately cut out of the film. Johansson was originally going to play Witch but was later placed in the Black Widow role. Scarlet Witch's scenes were likely turned into Kate Mara's U.S. Marshall brief cameo. It's possible a reason she was cut is that Marvel might be only able to use Witch in an Avengers film. Kevin Feige stated that Marvel co-owns Witch/Quicksilver and seemingly confirms she's only able to appear in their Avengers films.
"If they want to use them in an X-Men movie they could, if we want to use them in an Avengers movie we could."
A couple of scenes in Avengers seemingly hint to Agent Coulson becoming the robotic Avenger Vision. Stark mentions a life-model-decoy which is Marvel-talk for android when Phill comes calling at Stark Tower. Coulson uses a retna scan to get ahold of the Destroyer gun and Fury calls him his "good eye". A major problem with this theory is that Clark is reprising the role in Joss Whedon's S.H.I.E.L.D. series on ABC.
WASP: The Wasp/ Janet van Dyne was present in Joss Whedon's original Avenger drafts. Her inclusion was going to be based on if Scarlett Johansson was able to be in the film or not. She was ultamtely cut out of the film but is rumored to be appearing in Iron Man 3. Perhaps, being introduced in a similar way to Widow in Iron Man 2. We know for sure she'll be invovled with Edgar Wright's Ant-Man which will shoot around the same time as Avengers 2. It's possible she could show up in the sequel.
Someone believes that these two people dressed in red during Loki's speech in Germany could be a cameo from Hank Pym and Janet. Seems possible since the outfits are out of place compared to others in the crowd.
MS MARVEL: Carol Danvers/Ms. Marvel has been rumored since the development/production of the first film. There is talk the studio is trying to put together a solo film for her along with actresses being linked for the role. Emily Blunt (Looper, All You Need Is Kill) who was originally cast in Iron Man 2 is linked along with Disney's Lone Ranger actress Ruth Wilson (Luther).
STAR-LORD AND THE GUARDIANS: Depending on the direction of Avengers 2 we could be seeing the inclusion of Star-Lord and the Guardians of The Galaxy. However, this seems like it's only going to happen if Thanos or Michael Korvac are the villains.
There are also a slew of characters that could make the jump into the Avengers sequel. Anthony Mackie (The Falcon) and Don Cheadle (War Machine) are prime candidates to join the ranks. However, it's been mentioned before by Kevin Feige some supporting characters will likely stay in their respected franchise. It's unknown if S.H.I.E.L.D. will even have the same presence in this new film as they did in Avengers. As it's possible they've been folded into Captain America's cinematic world. Their lack of involvement could lead to the Civil War storyline in Avengers 3, which Feige has pointed out.
